Leech
by screwtape's.love
Summary: Sigrid has always liked to be on the move. Maybe that's why being a member of the infamously lively Fairy Tail suits her so well. But when her go-get-em nature keeps her from enjoying the full benefits of guild membership and Fairy Tail's conflict with another guild forces her to slow down, will her life change in more ways than one?


**Chapter One**

There was metal… _everywhere._

The windows were shattered, bars like oversized nail shafts sticking out, looming over the street. Similar beams had been forced even through the walls. There were holes _everywhere, _and they were gaping, greater in circumference than the rods. This had been done sloppily and in a frenzy. She examined the street. There were, of course, gleaming glass shards, wood splinters, and paint shavings everywhere, but more importantly, there were no people. Not guild members, anyways. There were civilians, gasping at the mess, and some dumb kids taking souvenirs from the remnants of the guild hall.

Sigrid felt her heart rate pick up. A frenzied attack, no guild members outside. Were there injuries? Were there dead? Could this have happened in broad daylight, with guild members there to be victims to the attack?

She steeled herself and noticed she'd taken a couple of steps back in shock. Her heart was still racing. It was true that Fairy Tail wizards had a penchant for destruction, but she'd never come back from a mission and seen this sort of damage. Sure, buildings could come down in a mishap, but… not their own guild hall.

Besides, this obviously wasn't damage from the inside. Sure, whoever had done it had to have been standing front and center, right in the middle of the guild hall, but this bore the very distinct mark of only one wizard she knew.

Just like there were wizards that used fire magic besides their Salamander, there were plenty of wizards that worked with earth and metal, even steel. But it was the shape of the beams, and the caps at their peak, that told her that this was the work of a legend.

_It's gotta be that Dragon Slayer._

Her awe was suspended only by a slow burning anger and a slight anxiety. After all, no wizard was bold enough—or stupid enough—to make an attack like that all on his own. So if Phantom Lord's Steel Dragon Slayer was involved, so was his guild.

"Damn," she muttered, a series of imaginings flashing through her head. His silhouette, sketched in _Sorcerer's Weekly _because he'd refused to sit for a photograph. Second hand stories about him. Rumors of clients refusing to pay rewards after reporting mistreatment. And encounters of her own. None were direct, but she'd seen the fruits of Black Steel's work more than once. None of them had been pleasant. And if the rumors were anything to go by, his unpleasantness was a fair representation of Phantom Lords as a whole.

Her hands were in fists at her sides. Sigrid knew she needed to loosen up. Even by standing there without a sound, she was making a scene. She could hear the whispers of the same people who'd been gawking at the guild hall earlier. It was time to go in. So, with a little reluctance, she did.

The inside was in the same poor condition as the outside. It was dim and dusty, but much to her relief, she couldn't see and blood or signs of a struggle. There were other things, though. The bar was clear, and so was the requests board.

"Huh," she muttered, taking a few steps around and over the rubble. She'd almost hit her head on a steel beam; sure enough, they were all emerging from the same general space in the ground. She could almost see him standing here.

_With a few lackeys?_

No. The magic was his alone. He'd walked in and left alone.

_No one else?_

The other magic was fresh and familiar. His was stale.

_So it's been here for a few hours._

He'd arrived the night before. No one else was here, not even the Master.

The remaining magic was weak, but still, she could almost taste it. It was bitter, like burnt coffee, and it had a foul, metallic smell. And then, as soon as she noticed it, it was gone. A flavor that had gotten old. If she tuned in, she'd catch it again, but there was no reason to do that.

"Anyone here?" she called, glancing between the beams and dust caught in the light. There had to be someone here; someone had moved all the liquor and taken the job requests, and even Phantom Lord members wouldn't be petty enough to do that. "Hello?"

Footsteps. A strong, restrained magic and a quiet voice. "Oh, my. Sigrid. What a time to come back."

She turned back to Mirajane, who looked, in a word, defeated. "I'd say."

"We're downstairs for now. Come on. I'll explain what happened," she said, motioning meekly towards the stairway. Her feet dragged through the mess.

"No need," said Sigrid, following close behind and glancing around at the damage. Reparation would be costly, but no doubt there would be other costs. She cringed. "I picked up on it when I walked in. Since when did we have actual beef with the Phantom Lords? I know we're rivals, but…"

"We don't, that I know of," Mirajane told her, hand on the railing. "They must have come in the night. It was like this when I got here this morning to open up the building."

"Not to nitpick," Sigrid said, who was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Irritation of this level required some kind of catharsis. Keeping it contained would be troublesome, especially since, according to the existing regulations set by the Council, they couldn't make any kind of violent reply. "But I notice you said 'they'. It was just one person."

Mira's lips thinned. "I was afraid of that. For one person to cause all this damage doesn't bode well. Do you think it's a personal thing?"

She shrugged and tuned out. She could hear talking downstairs now. It wasn't as boisterous as usual, but she still didn't want to be bombarded with the magic of everyone in the guild. "I can't read intention from the magic left behind. All I can tell you is that I know who it is, but that won't help. So do you."

The smell of sawdust had even spread to the basement, but more pungent was the whiskey, which had, thankfully, survived the onslaught. But the makeshift guild hall seemed dead anyways. The chatter was quiet, and it wasn't as crowded as usual. It was just a bunch of sad people gathered around small wooden tables. All in all, it was depressing. Sigrid turned away from them; uncomfortable though she was with her growing, contained anger, depression was much worse.

"Yeah, we figured it out pretty quickly," the beauty sighed, glancing at the floor.

"And we can't do anything about it." It was less a question than a statement of fact. They _couldn't _do anything about it. Retaliation would land them in huge trouble. And she had a feeling that, until the damage to the guild hall blew over, that would be a problem for some people.

"No," Mira said, and they stopped at a stack of wooden crates. "So… I'm guessing you want something to drink? It's been an even more common request than usual today."

Sigrid cringed and scratched the back of her head. It felt weak to say yes. "Something light," she said finally.

"Right away," said Mira, wandering across the room and leaning down behind a crate where they'd probably tried to hide the beer from Cana. Sigrid flicked her gaze across the room a time or two; they'd failed. Cana was drinking straight out of a barrel anyways, but she didn't look so content about it this time.

With a place that was so close to home destroyed, it was hard to feel content about much of anything. Even with the weight of over a million Jewel sitting in her satchel, she felt completely dissatisfied with the conclusion to her last mission. Sure, she didn't usually hang out at the guild hall. But arriving back and spending a few short moments in a place that was more cheerful and safe than most of those she encountered in her travels was part of properly wrapping up a job. This wasn't right.

And then, as if the universe had decided to completely compound its _not-rightness _to prove a point, she suddenly felt an extra long arm wrap around her shoulders. It was strong at first, then weak like a spaghetti noodle, but she was so caught off guard that she was pulled into the crate. Her hip hit the wood and she made an inelegant sound. She'd been caught.

"I'm surprised you decided to stick around, kid, you usually split right away!" said Master Makarov, who, based off of both smell and the obscene cheer, was already ridiculously drunk. "It's good to have you. We were starting to think you didn't like us!" He laughed hard and finally released her shoulder. She freed her face from his side and stepped back. Sure enough, the old Master's face was flushed with the drink. There was no mistaking it: he was pissed.

Not at her, thankfully. "To the contrary, Master, I think most people don't even know me to worry about that," she said, exuding false cheer. "Anyways, you know better. And I wanted to make sure everyone was okay."

Still cheerful (still drunk), he replied, "Yeah. Those cowards came in the middle of the night when there was nobody to fight back. Can you imagine it?" She already had. "The repairs will take some time, but we'll have the guild hall fixed up before you know it. It'll be fine by the time you get back."

She pursed her lips, staring up the stairway. "I guess so." _Fine. Right. _Even if the guild hall was fixed, it was still a blow to their pride. No fixing that.

Without warning, she was pulled into the edge of the box, and Master Makarov, a second time. This time, it wasn't a spaghetti arm. "Don't head off on your own, Sigrid. Take a partner with you this time. I'm sure we could all use the distraction."

Sigrid was a little unsettled at this. It was clearly an order, but she had to wonder at the motivations. Was it really because he was worried about the mental well-being of another guild member? If that was the case, why hadn't he sent everyone out on missions already? Was he worried about another attack on the guild hall? Was it a safety concern?

She crossed her arms and tried to pull away. "I would, Master, but I'm not leaving right now. This obviously isn't a good time."

"Woah, Sigrid! Still here? I thought for sure you would have headed out right now," Wakaba interrupted before the Master could reply.

"A real man would stay and help out," Elfman interjected.

Putting aside the non-pressing gender issues, she rolled her eyes and nodded. "That's what I mean."

"You know she's a woman, right, Elfman?" said Cana, peering up from her barrel of drink for just a split second.

"Here you are, Sigrid," Mirajane said, appearing without warning and holding out a glass of deep amber liquid.

"You're a lifesaver, Mira," Sigrid said. She took a drink and almost scowled. Not so light, then. Maybe she needed it.

The other mage gave a weak chuckle. "No problem, really." Her face turned a little more serious. "So, how long are you staying?"

The topic made her anxious. She didn't like to stay in one place too long, but in this instance, it was unavoidable. "Just until things get sorted out."

"Okay. Do you have someplace to stay in the meantime? I know you don't rent anywhere." No, she didn't. She was never in Magnolia overnight; keeping a place would just be a huge waste of money. And even though her nonstop missions meant she had plenty of money to spend, Sigrid had always been a waste-not kind of girl.

"I'll find an inn or something."

Mira frowned. "I don't know—"

There was a surge of magic. It was so unexpected, especially since she was tuned out, that she almost fell over. This, too, was familiar. You couldn't really spend any amount of time in the Fairy Tail guild hall without knowing this magic. It was too obtrusive to go unnoticed. "Sorry to interrupt, but Natsu's here. And so's Erza, I think."

"Go up there and make sure he doesn't lose his head, Mira," the Master asked, and with nothing but a quiet nod, she headed back upstairs. "Thanks for the warning." The Master still looked way to cheerful to be real. If he hadn't been so drunk, he would have noticed their approach himself.

"Did they go on a mission together or something?" Now that she was paying attention, she was _definitely _confused. She thought she could sense the unfriendly chill of Gray's magic there too, and when was the last time they did anything together but fight? _I guess if Erza's there, they might have been intimidated into behaving._

"Oh, didn't anyone tell you?" said Levy from her table. "Natsu, Erza, Lucy, and Gray are all on a team now. Fairy Tail's strongest, from what I've heard!" Even with everything going on, she seemed to have a really positive attitude. Of course, Sigrid was willing to bet that Levy was hurting worse than anyone; she was too empathetic. But she was also level-headed to a fault.

"Natsu, Erza, and Gray? Really?" she said. It was definitely surprising, if not a pressing issue. It wasn't that all three of them were terrible or anything, but from what she'd glimpsed over the last couple of years, they weren't exactly friendly. "When did the happen?"

"Oh, I guess you weren't here," said Levy. "A couple of weeks ago there was a confrontation with the dark guild Eisenwald."

"Erza basically demanded that Gray and Natsu help her out," Cana said, "and Mira sent Lucy with them."

"Okay," Sigrid said finally, "but who's Lucy?

"Yo! What's up, _kids_?" the Master called, guzzling a drink of his own.

Sigrid turned to look over her shoulder. Sure enough, they were there. There was Natsu, who seemed to have gotten a little bit taller since she last saw him; Grey, who was (shockingly) wearing all his clothes; Happy, looking shocked at Natsu's feet; and Erza, hand on her hip, looking unusually vulnerable. To Natsu's left, there was a blonde with her hair half up in some kind of weird side ponytail thing. She was pretty cutesy and seemed not to fit in with the group, but then Sigrid saw the key ring at her side, complete with a surprising number of gold keys. _That must be Lucy. I wonder if I should get a feel for her magic?_

"Uh, hi," said the blonde, who was covering her hand with her mouth, no doubt in shock at the Master's state.

"Sorry we weren't here sooner," said Erza, downcast.

Natsu had a fist raised. As usual, he was quite the spitfire. Today, though, Sigrid almost felt like she could get behind it. "Why the heck are you all just sittin' around down here?" he snapped. His teeth were bared, his long canines catching in the light.

"How'd it go, Lucy?" Makarov asked, having decided to ignore the interruption. "You finish the job like a good girl?"

"Yeah…? I guess so…"The blonde girl answered hesitantly. Maybe she'd never seen him this way. And to be honest, Sigrid hadn't either. This drunk was a different drunk than usual.

"Master, do you understand the gravity of this situation?" Erza pressed. It was kind of alarming to hear her question the Master about much of anything, but Erza had an unmatched reverence for the guild and its Master. Seeing him here, drunk off his ass, probably felt like a second strike to her.

"The guild hall has been completely destroyed!" snapped Natsu. His magic felt volatile, like he might burst into flames at any time. Sigrid took another long drink.

"There's no reason to get yourselves all worked up. It's not the end of the world or anything," the Master 'reasoned'.

"What?" The Dragonslayer's rage was barely contained. Where Sigrid was resting at a simmer, Natsu was already boiling over. _Figures that a fire wizard would run hot._

"It just goes to show you how cowardly those dunderheads in the Phantom Lord guild really are," he said conversationally, gulping away most of his glass. "They struck when no one was here. Is that anything worth bragging about?"

It was certainly something to think about. If that guild was behind it, why? This was more than an act of rivalry.

"Nobody was here?" Erza gasped.

"It was after everyone had already left for the night," Mira replied, her voice devoid of its usual cheer.

"I suppose we can be thankful for that," the red-head answered, examining each uninjured guild member, as if to verify. "At least no one in our guild was hurt in the attack."

"We shouldn't trouble ourselves about people who don't have the guts to face us head on," the Master continued. "Forget about those fools—"

Even before the old man had finished speaking, Sigrid knew that heads were about to roll. So when the guild's biggest hothead threw his fist into a crate, sending splinters of wood flying, she was well-prepared. Annoyed, she dodged a mulch-sized chunk that would have hit her face only for it to get caught in the knitwork of her cap. Normally, she would have been indifferent or even entertained, but at the moment, Salamander's poor self-control was just annoying. The shouting was really beginning to grate on her nerves.

"—job requests—!"

"_NATSU! _That's enough outta you!"

If she'd expected Master Makarov to give Natsu a big bop on the head… well, she'd've been wrong. Instead, her anger dissipated and she was instead left to be embarrassed by proxy when Makarov swatted _Lucy_.

There was a brief moment of silence before Lucy said, "... and you spanked me because…?"

"Hands to yourself, Master," Mirajane scolded, hands on her hips. Unfortunately, this seemed to warrant little more than a chuckle from the old man (even though he did withdraw pretty quickly and stood up, face flushed and less serious again).

In the next moment he ran off, basically ignoring Natsu's shouts as he headed away.

In the interest of making sure she was at least mildly acquainted with her fellow guild members, she nudged Lucy on the arm. "Huh?" the other girl asked, turning with a start.

"For the record, it was because between the two of us within spanking distance, you have the better butt," she said with a teasing smile and a nearly unconscious eye roll. "Don't let the Master fool you. He's a dirty old man at heart."

Lucy snorted, but looked amused. "Geez. Tell me about it."

"So, you must be Lucy," Sigrid continued, holding out a hand. "I heard you're a newer member." _Sure, I heard it five minutes ago, but still._

Even though Lucy was obviously drained, whether it was because of her mission or seeing the state of the guild hall, she was clearly a friendly girl. "Yeah, I joined a while ago. Um, remind me of your name? I don't think I've seen you around."

"You haven't," she confirmed. "I usually don't hang out here. I'm Sigrid."

"Oh, okay," Lucy said. "It's good to meet you! And here I thought I'd run into almost everybody." She had a bright smile even with the fresh wound to her spirit. It was a point in her favor.

"Everybody except us lone wolves," Sigrid said, smirking. "Good to meet you, too. I hear you're on a team with those—"she gestured to the other three, then saw Happy "—four. Sounds like you've got your hands full."

Lucy laughed. "No kidding! But we made a great team." Her gate keys jingled at her side as she leaned in. Her expression was a puzzle: bemused, annoyed, conspiratorial. "Would you believe that I picked out a solo mission for 500 Jewel and they all came with me?"

Sigrid snorted into her liquor. "Of course. Why not?"

The chatted with each other for a few minutes, and it was a good time, but being in one place so long was eating at her, and Lucy looked worn out. Sigrid was actually surprised when she managed to summon a minor Celestial spirit, a Nikola who was apparently called Plue. It was ridiculously adorable, like a little snowman, and its shivering like a hairless dog in the cold was somehow endearing. She was almost tempted to pet it, but figured that would be crossing a line.

And, better even than the little Plue, she got a small taste of Lucy's magic at no cost of her own. Lucy's magic was moderate but growing, and it pulsed with a kind of excited energy that not all magic had. It also had an odd coldness about it, which was probably because of the conference with the celestial spirit world. Regardless, she was reasonably certain that she would be able to pick Lucy out of a crowd based off of those short moments of observation.

And, another thing: after encountering hundreds of wizards across Fiore, it was still refreshing to meet someone who loved not power, but magic itself, the way Lucy did.

Maybe she hadn't been assaulted from behind enough times that day, because once again, she was caught by surprise. Sigrid barely restrained a cry of pain as she felt what was probably supposed to be a friendly punch in the arm. "Sigrid. I'm surprised you've stuck around. How was your mission?"

Sigrid weakly rubbed at her upper arm. "Mira, I'm gonna need another drink. It was great, thanks."

Erza raised a thin, elegant eyebrow. "I heard rumors that something went wrong."

"Just rumors," Sigrid said. This was kind of true. In all actuality, the mission she'd set out on had gone wonderfully. It was only on her way back that things had gone wrong, since she'd unintentionally run into a different job. "I'm well. Though I'm curious to know what you heard."

Another glass was in her hand. She went at this one much faster. "I'll tell you about it at a later date. It seems we have more pressing concerns at the moment."

"Okay," Sigrid said, knocking back the rest of her drink. "How about you? Gone on any interesting missions lately?"

"Well, I'm sure Lucy's told you all about the one we completed earlier today." Sigrid smirked. Erza had probably made moving boxes of books seem glamorously noble. "Before that, we spent some time on Galuna Island."

She coughed into her hand. "Woah, who's 'we'? I heard Galuna Island was cursed and that there were some really dangerous demons and spirits there. Did you and Laxus go together or something?" Unlikely. Laxus wasn't really a team player.

Erza's lips thinned dangerously. "Natsu, Natsu, and Lucy informally accepted the request. We sent Grey to retrieve them, and I left afterwards to fetch all three." She sounded very dangerous in the moment. Erza had that terrible look on her face. It was the one that brought fights in the guild hall to a screeching halt, sent the strongest of men into fits of tears, and made even fools like Natsu quail from any further interaction.

Sigrid, however, had always been a different matter. She sputtered, "Okay, I know it's been a long time since I've been here, but wasn't that an S-class mission?"

"It was," Erza said, radiating doom.

"So Master Makarov…?"

She caught sight of Natsu lingering over Erza's shoulder before she heard him say anything. He looked pale and wan not just because of Erza, but because of the memories. His eyes gleamed forlornly. "He got us alright."

Lucy shivered. "Come on, Natsu, don't even talk about _that_."

"I can't help it, Lucy! I just can't stop thinking about it."

Sigrid wasn't sure what _that _was, but it sounded like she didn't want to. "What are you guys talking about? I was going to ask if he threatened to kick you out or something."

"No way!" said Natsu, pumping his fist.

"Ugh, I don't think I can take anymore trauma today," said Lucy, who still seemed to be flashing back. Plue shivered at her side. "I'm gonna head home, okay? You guys have a good night. Nice to meet you, Sigrid."

"You too, Luce," she answered with a lazy wave. "See you around."

"Yeah, once in a blue moon," snarked Natsu as the blond walked away. "What's keeping you, anyways? I thought for sure that you'd be headed out by now."

Sigrid rolled her eye, but also felt a little guilty. If this was the third or fourth time she was hearing this, she obviously hadn't made a great impression on her fellow guild members. And she'd barely ever spoken to Natsu before, so this didn't exactly feel like friendly banter. "I'm staying to help rebuild the guild hall," she said evenly. "I know I'm not here a lot, but I'm still a member of Fairy Tail."

He grinned. Notable as always were his long canines. They always made her wonder. After all, Natsu was still a human, but they were pretty distinct. Did they have something to do with his being raised by a dragon? Did all Dragon Slayers have them? "You should stick around sometime. It could be fun!"

"I prefer to stay on the move," she replied. "I like being busy."

"Well, there's never a dull moment around here," said Gray, who was thankfully not entirely naked, but clothed only in underwear. She averted her gaze as quickly as possible. "You'd definitely be busy."

"Put some clothes on, you perv!" yelled Natsu.

"Please," she agreed as the ice mage yelped and went running for his pants. "I don't know. Maybe I'll try and stay overnight sometimes. I didn't realize how much I'd offended everyone." She glanced at the clock, as if she could speed past this discussion. "Erza, weren't you going to tell me about those rumors?"

Her only well-maintained acquaintance in the group fixed her with a burnishing stare. "We can speak about that matter later. For now, we need to discuss more immediate safety concerns. Certainly you know you can't stay on your own."

Sigrid frowned at her. "I'm pretty sure I can safely walk myself to an inn, actually."

"Did she just backtalk Erza?" Natsu whisper-yelled.

"Wow!" said Happy.

"I agree," Erza said, though her stance was obviously unchanged. "But that isn't the point. What if someone attacked you in the night? If you were the only wizard in the inn, you wouldn't be the only one at risk."

"Phantom Lord isn't known for launching anything other than verbal abuse at non-wizards," Sigrid protested, crossing her arms as she subconsciously mirrored the other wizard. "Anyways, if half the people in my own guild don't know I exist, does Phantom Lord? They won't know to target me."

"I'm afraid you're not as unpopular as you'd like to believe, Sigrid," the red head said. It felt to Sigrid like she was being sized up; it was a little alarming. She tuned in. Erza's magic was ever present, but she wasn't tapping into it. It was unsurprising if not comforting. Erza didn't usually have to resort to magic. "You do have a reputation."

She scowled. "Whatever you say. Where am I supposed to stay, then? You know I don't have a place. Or friends to ask, actually."

She realized only shortly after saying so how pitiful that sounded, but it was already out. She bit her tongue and turned away, a little embarrassed, but the response was swift and… not unpleasant. "Everyone in Fairy Tail's a friend!" declared Natsu, his words as passionate and bright as the element he stood for. "Why don't you stay with us? We're gonna crash at Lucy's."

"That seems like a perfectly sound idea," Erza agreed as Sigrid overcame her moment of shock.

"Who knew flame brain could come up with those?" asked Gray with a smirk.

Predictably, Natsu was at his throat right away. "What's that supposed to mean, you perv?"

Both of their magics were suddenly flaring. She had to tune them out, and cut off whatever clever retort Gray had in mind once she'd finally collected herself. "Hold on just a minute," she said coolly. "Does Lucy know that? She didn't mention it when we were talking. And she definitely didn't invite me."

"I'm sure Lucy would be delighted to host us," Erza said, "you included. Besides, it's a necessary safety measure for her, too."

"There's no way I'm just going to show up at someone's doorstep like that," she argued.

"You're welcome to spend the night at my place," called Levy, who was standing around a table with two guys whose names she couldn't quite remember. Jett or something?... and… something else.

"No thanks," she said, smiling genuinely back at her. "I really wouldn't want to intrude."

"She invited you, so now you're just making excuses," said Gray, crossing his arms. He had a smug demeanor, and she suddenly had the impulse to commit some kind of violence.

"Who asked you?" she shot back, taking another long drink (when had it gotten there? Perhaps Mira'd noticed her distress and refilled it). "Anyways, as Erza _knows_, I'm more than capable than taking care of myself." _And you three don't exactly need babysitters._

"As I said earlier, I know you're capable," said Erza, whose eyes were glinting dangerously. "But I'm afraid this isn't up for discussion."

"You're right. It's not," said Sigrid, finishing off this drink in what was, for her, record time. She'd never been much of a drinker. "I'll be fine, Erza. Really."

Natsu looked unusually contemplative, then said, "There'll be food!"

She gave him a long, scrutinizing look, and just as he began to lean backwards with something akin to terror, said, "Well, that settles it."

He looked totally thrilled. "Really? Looks like we're on the same page!"

Gray rolled his eyes. "Not really. She's obviously being sarcastic, you moron."

"Who are you callin' a moron, moron?"

"I'd be more than willing to drag you there, if that's what it takes," said Erza, who looked irritated at the boys and even at Sigrid herself.

"You know, Erza, I'd really like to see you try." She swirled her glass a little and noticed, sadly, that there was nothing inside. She set it down. It looked a little sad and alone there on the box; she sat next to it and crossed her legs, fixing Erza with a smug look all of her own.

"Woah!"

If Erza wasn't Erza, she might have rolled her eyes. "Let's not act like those two, please."

"Hey!" Natsu and Gray protested in harmony, then glared at each other.

"Ya know, if I didn't know any better, I'd just say you didn't want to spend time with us," Natsu commented, a little disgruntled.

"You don't know any better," said Sigrid, only vaguely recognizing that as something she wouldn't usually have said. "We've barely spoken."

"Shyness is no reason to put your life at risk," Erza said. She'd adjusted her stance into something almost guarded, like she was ready to be on the move at any time.

Sigrid frowned. She felt a little insulted, actually. "I'm not shy, but I do have a noise threshold, and you guys are pushing it."

"As do I," Erza said, "and I could really use your help keeping Gray and Natsu under control." _You don't need any help with that, _Sigrid thought as the two of them made noises of protest in the background. "Besides, it's not just me. The Master has already asked that we not head out alone. You respect him, don't you?"

She nibbled her lip. There was only one real answer to that question. "Fine," she said finally, throwing a hand in the air, trying to look a little suave, "I'll think on it."

"Alright," said Natsu in the background.

Erza's eyes sparkled devilishly. "That's good," she replied, reaching out. "You can think on it on the way."

* * *

_Ah, look at me, starting a new project so I have even more to juggle than I already did. A joyous occasion._


End file.
